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I was sleeved 23 months ago (i.e. nearly two years ago). Admittedly, I was very sick last year with a gut infection (Campylobacter), and dropped down to a BMI of 18.5, and 18% body fat. O.K; so here I am going to be honest and accountable. Since that gut infection has been treated, my weight has gradually increased ... particularly in the last couple of months... Yes. Alcohol. Low-carb beer ... Gin and diet tonic (so helpful for getting me through doing housework!!). I, probably like most folk, have had some carb-binges over the last month. A couple of days of eating nothing but "Grainwave" chips ... And an outstanding 2.25 kg of (Chinese) dumplings in the last two days. I have had horrendous health/energy problems last year, and haven't been active (chronic ME/CFIDS + Fibromyalgia etc. and I had really deteriorated health-wise) But this last week there has been an improvement. Today I "sucked it up" and weighed myself (after going to the loo, on an empty stomach etc). I have managed (!) to put on 3.13 kg in less than four weeks. Body fat increase of 3.6% ... And I can feel it. My arms feel like sausages bursting out of their skins, and my thighs are rubbing. My boobs are bursting out of my bra. I have jumped up a couple of clothing sizes. I had got down to a size 4/6 (I am only 5" tall - about 153 cm), and am now busting out of size 8. So. This is it. I have started this new thread, called "Accountability". 1. I am going to be more diligent to weigh myself more frequently. 2. Bye-bye low carb beer. 3. Move more. 4. Update my details and progress.5. Get to see dentist to have sensitive teeth treated ... this has been preventing me from "20, 20, 20". Numerologically, for me this is a "power year". So it is up to me to make the most of it.

http://www.bmj.com/content/349/bmj.g7257 Ruben Meerman, researcher,Andrew J Brown, professorAuthor affiliations1School of Biotechnology and Biomolecular Sciences, University of New South Wales, Sydney, 2052, AustraliaCorrespondence to: R Meerman rubenmeerman@me.comAccepted 14 November 2014AbstractRuben Meerman and Andrew Brown explain why the answer might not be what you expect When somebody loses weight, where does the fat go?BMJ 2014; 349 doi: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.g7257 (Published 16 December 2014)Cite this as: BMJ 2014;349:g7257 Considering the soaring overweight and obesity rates and strong interest in this topic, there is surprising ignorance and confusion about the metabolic process of weight loss among the general public and health professionals alike. We encountered widespread misconceptions about how humans lose weight among general practitioners, dietitians, and personal trainers (fig 1⇓). Most people believed that fat is converted to energy or heat, which violates the law of conservation of mass. We suspect this misconception is caused by the “energy in/energy out” mantra and the focus on energy production in university biochemistry courses. Other misconceptions were that the metabolites of fat are excreted in the faeces or converted to muscle. We present a novel calculation to show how we “lose weight.” Play Video Fig 1 Responses of a sample of doctors, dieticians, and personal trainers to the question “When somebody loses weight, where does it go?” (Correct answer CO2) Download figure Open in new tab Download powerpoint Weight we want to “lose”Excess carbohydrate or protein in the diet is converted to triglyceride and stored in the lipid droplets of adipocytes. Excess dietary fat needs no conversion other than lipolysis and re-esterification. People who wish to lose weight while maintaining their fat-free mass are, biochemically speaking, attempting to metabolise the triglycerides stored in their adipocytes. The chemical formula for an average triglyceride molecule can be deduced from fatty acid composition studies. In 1960, Hirsch and colleagues published data that yield an “average fatty acid” with the formula C17.4H33.1O2.1This 50 year old result is in remarkable agreement with more recent data.2 Three “average fatty acids” esterified to the glycerol backbone (+3C, +6H) give an “average triglyceride” with the formula C54.8H104.4O6. The three most common fatty acids stored in human adipose tissues are oleate (C18H34O2), palmitate (C16H32O2), and linoleate (C18H32O2),1 2 which all esterify to form C55H104O6. The complete oxidation of a single triglyceride molecule involves many enzymes and biochemical steps, but the entire process can be summarised as: C55H104O6+78O2→55CO2+52H2O+energy Stoichiometry shows that complete oxidation of 10 kg of human fat requires 29 kg of inhaled oxygen producing 28 kg of CO2 and 11 kg of H2O. This tells us the metabolic fate of fat but remains silent about the proportions of the mass stored in those 10 kg of fat that depart as carbon dioxide or water during weight loss. To calculate these values, we traced every atom’s pathway out of the body. The carbon and hydrogen atoms obviously depart as CO2 and H2O, respectively. The fate of a triglyceride molecule’s six oxygen atoms is a conundrum solved in 1949 by Lifson and colleagues.3 They used labelled heavy oxygen (O18) to show that the oxygen atoms of body water and respiratory carbon dioxide are rapidly exchanged through the formation of carbonic acid (H2CO3). A triglyceride’s six oxygen atoms will therefore be shared by CO2 and H2O in the same 2:1 ratio in which oxygen exists in each substance. In other words, four will be exhaled and two will form water. Novel calculationThe proportion of a triglyceride molecule’s mass exhaled in CO2 is the proportion of its molecular weight (daltons) contributed by its 55 carbon atoms plus four of its oxygen atoms: (661 Da (C55)+64 Da (O4))/(861 Da (C55H104O6))×100=84% The proportion of mass that becomes water is: (105 Da (H104)+32 Da (O2))/(861 Da (C55H104O6))×100=16% These results show that the lungs are the primary excretory organ for weight loss (fig 2⇓). The water formed may be excreted in the urine, faeces, sweat, breath, tears, or other bodily fluids. Fig 2 When somebody loses 10 kg of fat (triglyceride), 8.4 kg is exhaled as CO2. The remainder of the 28 kg total of CO2produced is contributed by inhaled oxygen. Lungs are therefore the primary excretory organ for weight loss. (This calculation ignores fat that may be excreted as ketone bodies under particular (patho)physiological conditions or minor amounts of lean body mass, the nitrogen in which may be excreted as urea) Download figure Open in new tab Download powerpoint Lifting the veil on weight lossAt rest, an average 70 kg person consuming a mixed diet (respiratory quotient 0.8) exhales about 200 ml of CO2 in 12 breaths per minute.4 Each of those breaths therefore excretes 33 mg of CO2, of which 8.9 mg is carbon. In a day spent asleep, at rest, and performing light activities that double the resting metabolic rate, each for 8 hours, this person exhales 0.74 kg of CO2 so that 203 g of carbon are lost from the body. For comparison, 500 g of sucrose (C12H22O11) provides 8400 kJ (2000 kcal) and contains 210 g of carbon. Replacing one hour of rest with exercise that raises the metabolic rate to seven times that of resting by, for example, jogging, removes an additional 39 g of carbon from the body, raising the total by about 20% to 240 g. For comparison, a single 100 g muffin represents about 20% of an average person’s total daily energy requirement. Physical activity as a weight loss strategy is, therefore, easily foiled by relatively small quantities of excess food. Our calculations show that the lungs are the primary excretory organ for fat. Losing weight requires unlocking the carbon stored in fat cells, thus reinforcing that often heard refrain of “eat less, move more.” We recommend these concepts be included in secondary school science curriculums and university biochemistry courses to correct widespread misconceptions about weight loss. NotesCite this as: BMJ 2014;349:g7257 FootnotesCompeting interests: I have read and understood BMJ policy on declaration of interests and have no relevant interests to declare Provenance and peer review: Not commissioned; externally peer reviewed. This is an Open Access article distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/. References↵ Hirsch J, Farquhar JW, Ahrens EH, Jr, Peterson ML, Stoffel W. Studies of adipose tissue in man. A microtechnic for sampling and analysis. Am J Clin Nutr1960;8:499-511.Abstract/FREE Full TextGoogle Scholar↵ Hodson L, Skeaff CM, Fielding BA. Fatty acid composition of adipose tissue and blood in humans and its use as a biomarker of dietary intake. Prog Lipid Res2008;47:348-80.CrossRefPubMedWeb of ScienceGoogle Scholar↵ Lifson N, Gordon GB, Visscher MB, Nier AO. The fate of utilized molecular oxygen and the source of the oxygen of respiratory carbon dioxide, studied with the aid of heavy oxygen. J Biol Chem1949;180:803-11.FREE Full TextGoogle Scholar↵ Ainsworth BE, Haskell WL, Herrmann SD, Meckes N, Bassett DR, Jr, Tudor-Locke C, et al. 2011 Compendium of physical activities: a second update of codes and MET values. Med Sci Sports Exerc2011;43:1575-81.CrossRefPubMedWeb of ScienceGoogle Scholar

http://www.gastricsleevesupport.com/ This is another great resource for potential 'sleevers', and post-sleevers. The "good, the bad, and the ugly". Believe me, there have been some hideous outcomes of folks who have had the gastric sleeve done, and then have experienced horrendous outcomes, through no fault of their own. And despite following every guideline ... It is SERIOUS surgery. And needs to be treated, and respected as so. Please - just fork out the dosh, and book in and follow the guidelines of an experienced bariatric dietitian etc. It takes 10/52 for the stomach to heal, and even after that, late 'leaks' can happen. And other complications ... It is up to YOU , BEFORE you have "Weight Loss Surgery" ("WLS") to research, research, research. Read, read, read. There are numerous resources out there. Prepare, prepare, prepare. Remember "The Six P's"? I am not wishing to be crude here, but a good 'rule of thumb'/guideline is "Prior Preparation Prevents Piss Poor Performance". And from a SCUBA diving background - about 25 years ago - "Plan your dive, and dive to your plan". (I have the same username on this site- gastricsleevesupport.com "denzel"). You may also wish to look at my blog on this site, bandingtogether.com http://www.bandingtogether.com.au/community/profile/20941-denzel/ I can only re-emphasise the importance of working with your GP, bariatric surgeon, and bariatric-savvy dietitian. Any questions/queries, please contact them first. Instead of posting on sites such as this and asking for opinions. Your peers only just have this - opinions. This DOES not replace the guidelines and adbice of your . That is their area of speciality - not your faceless peers. And that YOU have to be accountable. You. Nobody else. Believe me, WLS is just a tool. If you don't use it wisely, then it will not work for you (so many posts about "I am a lapband/gastric sleeve/gastric by-pass failure".) And my personal experience. I HAVE to be diligent. Hour by hour. Day by day. Week by week etc. And, at the age of (turning 54) 53, I HAVE to follow a "Low-carb, healthy fat" diet (LCHF). Otherwise I just "blow-out". Many, many years ago - i.e around year 2000, I did that just that, No excuses for having your potentially-life threatening surgery done, and THEN ask "What should I be eating?" *sigh*. I just 'don't get it'. Why you haven't you already connected with a bariatric-savvy dietitian BEFORE having this operation done? .... And then you have read all the other resources out there? Totally frustrating. Us long-term sleevers answer queries such as this SO SO many times, then we get 'burnt out'. Don't have the emotional/physical/well-being to answer the same questions over...and over ...and over ... and over again etc. So, at the end of the day, YOU have to be accountable. I don't dish out platitudes - because, even though this may give that person instant gratification - What? - at the end of the day? - is best for them?, and what they are seeking advise about? Instant gratification? or genuine advice?. And it all boils down to head space. Those who (superficially, and nominally) seek - "advice" from their peers on forums such as these, rather than from experienced and qualified health professionals); unless they are willing to change head space/attitudes/beliefs - (and "In My Humble Opinion" " IMHO") - is that for those folk. please seek professional help, who specialise in eating behaviour disorders. Rather than need constant 'stroking' of their egos. Because in 1/5/10/15/20/ 20 + years, what is better for them? (in 'normal mental health'... , and if they have other mental health/personality problems, such as "borderline personality", it isn't us folk to try to work with this), it is their "health-care professionals". Please be careful, for all of us "helpers" out there, there are are a lot of folk out there with "borderline personalities". Just speaking from experience ... All the best!

Is there anyone else out there who had a normal recovery & progress from the sleeve op, but have gone onto lose too much weight? And if so, what strategies did you use to put healthy weight back on? I know to include more 'healthy' fats such as avocados, have snacks, and should be having protein drinks. Seen my GP this am, and I'll drop a line to my dietician and surgeon (dietician didn't want me to go under 45 kg, I did email her last week when I had got to 45.99 kg, but I haven't heard back) What else can you suggest? Thanks! Me. 52 year old female, 1.535m, current weight 43.54 kg, body fat % 21.2, BMI 18.8

Interesting: https://www.hypervibe.com/au/blog/vibration-therapy-benefits-people-with-metabolic-syndrome-study/ "Whole body vibration activates the muscles in a way that induces improvements in strength and power performance, these improvements being similar to those observed with strength training, Cardinale and Bosco have shown in a paper published in 2003 in the journal of Exercise and sport sciences reviews. In a more resent study, vibration training was found to increase flexibility in patients with metabolic syndrome, being a safe and time-efficient alternative to conventional workouts for this group of people. The study that will be discussed in this article was published in the journal of Rehabilitation Research and Practice, and used an oscillating platform with an initial frequency of 5Hz. The vibration bouts lasted for 1 minute, and amplitude varied between 2 mm and 7 mm. Several rounds of WBV movements (standing or sitting) were performed, frequency increasing with one Hz in each round, until it reached 14Hz. This wasn’t the only research paper to prove the efficiency of vibration exercises in improving flexibility, but deserves special attention as in metabolic syndrome patients, flexibility and the overall physical performance tend to decrease as a result of a sedentary lifestyle. Although not all mechanisms that lead to the improvement of flexibility in patients with metabolic syndrome are understood, it is believed that the suppression of the central nervous system that results from a decrease in motor neuron excitability, as well as the decrease in pain sensation and in muscular stiffness may be involved in this favorable effect of WBV. Metabolic syndrome affects one’s health in several ways A collection of conditions that occur together, increasing the risk of diabetes, heart disease and stroke, the metabolic syndrome affects one’s body in profound ways. It leads to an increase in blood sugar levels and blood pressure, favors the accumulation of excess body fat around the waist and leads to an increase in the levels of cholesterol. Increased thirst and urination, fatigue and blurred vision, as well as an increased waist circumference can signal the presence of this syndrome. Metabolic syndrome is caused by inactivity and obesity, being linked to insulin resistance. When the body no longer responds properly to insulin and sugar can’t be transported to cells for energy production, it remains in the blood stream, resulting in increased blood glucose levels. This can trigger both metabolic syndrome and diabetes, if the body becomes unable to produce enough insulin for keeping glucose levels within the normal range. Still, note that having only one symptom or one of the mentioned conditions doesn’t mean you have metabolic syndrome. It just means you are more likely to develop it, and to experience its unpleasant complications. The damage of the blood vessels may lead to heart disease and stroke; the increase in triglyceride levels makes one more prone to cardiovascular diseases, and the altered insulin production can lead to diabetes, eye, nerve and kidney problems. Consequently, an impaired kidney function can cause high blood pressure and increase the risk of stroke. These unpleasant health effects can be prevented by staying active and practicing physical exercises on a daily basis, as well as by keeping blood sugar levels under control and watching your waist circumference."

I am going to do my sister's raw garlic protocol to eliminate bad bacteria in my gut, and have started today (I already use probiotics, just need to increase prebiotics).
I am particularly hopeful by doing the raw garlic both pre- and post sleeving that it will have a significant beneficial effect (on my ME/CFS), particularly as sleeving affects the gut biota through induced changes in the gut microbial community via FXE signalling pathways.
for interest - changes in but biota following VSG
"VSG is known to increase circulation of bile acids. The bile acids bind to farsenoid-X receptor (FXR), a receptor in the nuclei of cells that regulates gene expression."
"The surgery also increased circulating bile acids and induced changes in the gut microbial community via FXR signaling pathways."
http://www.nih.gov/researchmatters/april2014/04072014bariatric.htm
So that's how it works! *snigger*!
http://www.pathirikai.com/HEalth/Is%20garlic%20the%20best%20medicine.pdf

Maintaining Weight Without Losing More , My Dietician's Guidelines Today at Visit I am 3 weeks shy of my 6/12 anniversary and have passed the dieticians goal weight for me and the lower goal weight I set for me (she had agreed that it was realistic and achievable). I have reached a weight at which I don't want to lose any more, with a BMI of 20.68 I saw my dietician today (I have had a total of 7 visits) with the goal for today's visit of getting guidelines on how to maintain my weight where it is and not to lose anymore. I was congratulated on the weight loss that I have achieved, and she recognised that I already eat a healthy diet and am very well read and informed. So, basically the advice she gave me was to concentrate on protein and healthy fats and to increase amounts of nuts, avocado. (She knew I was anti-carbohydrate - hey, that's why I got obese in the first place! in that I didn't want to maintain using strategies such as eating rice...) We also discussed the new Healthy Eating Pyramid and it's move away from refined carbohydrates...and also how I believe that all the previous 'healthy diet guidelines' were detrimental for those on the slippery slope to and with diabetes Type 2. Another concern of mine is since me having an ileus and small bowel obstruction recently following abdominal wall surgery and basically not eating for 2/52 my stomach appears to have...shrunk. My intake in a single sitting appears to be about 1/4 cup food... ie the size of one poached egg. And I don't snack between meals. But I am sure that this situation will remedy itself So I am prepared that I will probably drop another kg or so until my intake improves, and according to my research if my carb intake is still low increasing healthy fats won't actually make me gain weight, in fact I'll keep on losing. I'll ask her what her 'end point' weight for me would be, she was happy for my end point to be what it is now, but wondering if she would say another couple of kgs lighter? She is tiny herself, about my height, but I see her as much smaller.

I've been slacking off for a couple months and hovering at the same weight between 68 and 69kgs. I found this photo of myself from last year and I still had the tshirt so I thought I would do a comparison!
So that's me down 36kgs from 104 to 68 hopefully get to my goal of 60 in a few months, by summer would be great!
I definitely, definitely encourage people starting out their journeys to just take a photo of yourself no matter how gross you might feel, because later down the track you're going to be like wow!! I can't believe that was me.

Abstract The inability of current recommendations to control the epidemic of diabetes, the specific failure of the prevailing low-fat diets to improve obesity, cardiovascular risk, or general health and the persistent reports of some serious side effects of commonly prescribed diabetic medications, in combination with the continued success of low-carbohydrate diets in the treatment of diabetes and metabolic syndrome without significant side effects, point to the need for a reappraisal of dietary guidelines. The benefits of carbohydrate restriction in diabetes are immediate and well documented. Concerns about the efficacy and safety are long term and conjectural rather than data driven. Dietary carbohydrate restriction reliably reduces high blood glucose, does not require weight loss (although is still best for weight loss), and leads to the reduction or elimination of medication. It has never shown side effects comparable with those seen in many drugs. Here we present 12 points of evidence supporting the use of low-carbohydrate diets as the first approach to treating type 2 diabetes and as the most effective adjunct to pharmacology in type 1. They represent the best-documented, least controversial results. The insistence on long-term randomized controlled trials as the only kind of data that will be accepted is without precedent in science. The seriousness of diabetes requires that we evaluate all of the evidence that is available. The 12 points are sufficiently compelling that we feel that the burden of proof rests with those who are opposed. http://www.nutritionjrnl.com/article/S0899-9007%2814%2900332-3/fulltext

And part II of my story, covering how I went about losing the weight, my experiences and achievements, is now online:
http://www.dailysabah.com/features/2015/01/15/a-life-changing-transformation-was-149-kilograms-now-65

This looks like a bit of light hearted fun! I found it on another site. Discover the crazy truth behind your weight loss. Enter your name and amount of weight lost to get started. http://www.ilostwhat.com/

It has been such a long time since I last posted here.
I had first started my lapband journey on January 20, 2010 at about 148 kg. Now, five years later, weighing around 65 kg, I wrote in an English paper published in Turkey about what it was like living life as an obese person. I thought some may be interested, so I wanted to share the link here.
"The Fat Life" story will be followed the next day with my "LifeTransforming Change."
Please feel free to share the link with anybody you think may feel inspired.
Much love,
Gee
http://www.dailysabah.com/features/2015/01/14/the-fat-life-its-not-a-joke

Hi dear Forum,
I am Kathrin and originally from Bavaria/Germany. I live in Australia since 06/2012 and I am loving it! :-) We are moving up to Brisbane next year and building our own house and pottery workshop.
All is perfect, but not my weight. I am struggling all my life with my overweight. And now I have reached a weight which makes my life very miserable. I am 170 cm and my weight is 108 kg :-(
Last year I had a heavy pulmonary embolism after an old thrombosis, apparently in the left leg, broke up and travelled up to my lungs. I am having heavy legs every evening and so son and so son.
Today I was visiting my GP and asked him for a lap band surgery. I was refered to Dr. John Jorgensen in Kogarah. I will call tomorrow and try to get an appointment. Unfortunately our private health insurance excluded weight loss surgery. Not sure if I get help from Medicare because I am not for very long with Medicare (before I was on a Business Visa 457 and now perm resident since June 2014).
Does anyone has any eperience with Dr. John Jorgensen?
Can anyone please explain me how it works with funding via Supa?
Thanks for any info. All new for me and I have to research a lot of things :-)
Thanks, Kathrin

I've started to read Wheat Belly. Has anyone else read this book and put it into practice?? I have a Coeliac son and I am intolerant to wheat. I've researched it online and think it's definitely worth trying. Just interested in others experiences!!

5 weeks today since surgery and I feel great!
I have now lost 15.3kgs and am now walking 5 kms every day!! 3 in the morning and 2 in the arvo and I am extremely proud of myself for that!!!
I am really looking forward to getting my first fill next Monday as I am so bloody hungry some days but other than a few hot chips i stole from hubby on Sunday night I have been making the right food choices, who knew I would ever do that!!!!
So all in all I feel great, and I know I keep saying it but I am happy!!!
Had family visit over the weekend and they told me I havent looked so happy and relaxed for years!!!
Spent the weekend eating out and gee I am a cheap date now when it comes to food!!!
Life is good!!!!! And why did I not do this years ago ?

Sorry for the cliched title. I loathe the word journey, hijacked as its become, but to be honest, I can't actually think of what else this is.
A journey, an exploration, a study in self - it's many things - it's also a long overdue admission that I - Ms Very High Self-Esteem - am now so overweight that it's actually affecting my health. I can't be in denial any more, something needs to be done.
I had lunch two weeks ago with my son's best mate's mum. I hadn't seen her for a while and she looked fantastic. I knew that in the past she had used Duromine to lose about 10-12 kg and thought she must have been on that but she said "didn't I tell you? I got a lap-band done in November. Best thing I ever did!". She has lost 11 kg (even over Christmas! I was very impressed) and reckoned it was so easy and why she didn't do it years ago she'll never know.
I was fascinated. I listened hard to everything she told me and went home thinking "I think I need this".
I am lucky to have a very supportive partner who loves me regardless of what I look like but all the same, I know he is very pleased that I've decided to do this.
I made an appointment to see Prof. Paul O'Brien on 18 February but was excited to get a call saying there was an earlier appointment, so I went yesterday, 11 February. I was horrified to see what my weight was - 90 kg - BMI 35.6. I even find it hard to type that terrible number, but I knew it was time to face it. I am only 5'1" - 5'2" if I'm really lucky and 90 kg is appalling for my height. I had a hard enough time last year facing turning 50, then acknowledging I was actually going through menopause, now this. All these unfaceable things must now be squarely faced.
Prof. O'Brien told me that my ideal weight is 63 kg (is it a sign? I was born in 1963...*cue spooky music*) and that I have 27 kg of excess weight but should aim to lose 18 kg to get to 72 kg. I responded "I look awesome at 70 kg". Like I said, I have a very healthy self-esteem
So I got given all the paperwork and spent most of last night completing it - I absolutely couldn't complete the 40 page questionnaire in one hit so I did half last night and the rest this morning. I've had my GP sign the forms for the super fund, and tomorrow I'll post it all off.
My surgery is scheduled for 24 March 2014 unless the super fund comes through quickly and there is an earlier spot, which I will take.
I'm nervous and excited. I'm worried I will fail. I'm curious if I will succeed and if that success will be fast or slow. I fret that I'm a boredom eater and often eat when I'm not hungry. I wonder if I will still have the urge to buy a packet of biscuits or a block of chocolate and hide it in my office drawer to nibble on during the day. I am worried how I will cook for my partner and son when I don't feel hungry. In short, I have NFI what is ahead of me!
If I'm brutally honest (and why shouldn't I be here? No one knows who I am, there are no expectations, I can truly be myself), I've always been a bit of a "happens to other people" type. But this time it's happening to me and I have to face it.
I am fat. Horribly so for my height. I am sick of shopping in the fat chick's section. I am sick of not wearing sleeveless things. I'm sick of trying on bigger and bigger sizes to find something that fits. I've always had big boobs, but even I'm shocked at the sheer scale of the bras I'm wearing now. You could parachute safely to earth from a plane with one of them! I'm sick of seeing people I haven't seen for ages say "wow, you look really well" - when we all know that "well" is a weasel word for fat. Sometimes I even supply them with the word they can't bring themselves to say. I am nothing if not blunt.
The Prof's letter to the superannuation fund, by necessity, has to be blunt, but man, it was really tough seeing the words "quite massive obesity" so baldly spelled out on the page.
Well you know what? I never want those words used in relation to me again.
So lap-band surgery it is. I really hope I can get an earlier appointment to have it done, just to get it over with so I can start this new...thing I don't want to call a journey. I know! A project. That's what it is - a project.
LillyPilly's Fat Project.
And it starts now. This would be great!
I want to use this blog to articulate my thoughts as well as to share what's actually happening to me throughout The Project. I don't mind if no one reads this, it's mainly for me anyway, and I thank the Admins of the forum for providing a safe space to do this.
Let us begin.

Hello,
I'am completely new to the whole idea of weight loss surgery, I just started talking to my Dietitian yesterday regarding my weight loss surgery options.
Lap banding, Vs. sleeve, Vs gastric bypass. I've also just stated to research and contact Dr's the ones that my Dietitian recommended are Dr Clement Tsang , Dr James Dundas Ritchie, and Dr. David Joseph. at the moment I really just hoping to get as much info as I can get from the brains trust in this forum.
Thanks Fudge

Ha, so I just had a look and the last time I wrote a blog entry on here was July of last year! Yeah...I've been away far too long but since coming back here this week, I can't believe I stayed away so long! I'd forgotten how good it is to talk to other bandits and to have people who understand what you're going through and are actually supportive!
So, quick update for anyone playing at home: It's been 16 months since my band operation, and despite some very slow progress, I have lost just over 40kg which is almost halfway to the 98kg I need to lose to reach goal. I've also returned to full time study this year, which has taken up most of my focus and sanity but overall is a good thing because I'm focussed on a new career that I absolutely love.
I'm still ever the worst critic of myself, so as proud of myself as I am with my progress (and believe me, I am sooo proud), I can't help but feel a little disappointed that it's taken me 16 months to lose that weight. But my mantra at the moment is "It doesn't matter how slowly it comes off, as long as it stays off for good!" The wonderful thing is that I can actually tell I've lost weight, mostly through the fact that my clothes are all getting too big on me!
My biggest problem has been getting the tension/tightness/adjustment of my band right. For most of this year, I've struggled with being able to eat properly, keeping food down etc. Being the self-saboteur that I am, I spent most of the year assuming it was just my fault, that I was either eating too quickly, not taking small enough bites etc. I even had my doctor take out fluid twice but my band was still inconsistent and getting almost unbearable in the last few weeks. So yesterday I went back to the surgeon, got another 0.5ml removed and suddenly it's like I've seen the light! Almost instantly, I could eat an entire meal (well a small serving but solid food all the same) without any problems. I ate chicken and broccoli curry with salad and a very small piece of naan (I tore a little piece off my nieces naan) without anything getting stuck. I almost wanted to cry I was just so happy! I also noticed that through my months and months of trying to fix myself, I've actually developed good habits in eating slowly and chewing well, which is a lovely by-product of all the stress I've had with my band.
What's really been getting me down lately, is that with all my issues with my band being too tight, I haven't been able to enjoy the lovely healthy foods I love like fresh fruit, salad and meat. Now, I feel like Christmas has come early as I think about all the lovely, fresh, healthy meals I'm going to make. I know that this new freedom with food is going to mean I'm open to more temptation, but not being able to eat healthy, solid food has shown me how much I crave good food, so I hope that will help too.
So that's me, 16 months on and after a year of struggle with my band, I finally feel like I'm back in the game and ready to tackle the next stage of my weight loss. I'm currently 119.5kg and my goal is to get under 100kg by the two year anniversary of my banding operation which is July). I'm also going to focus on toning up because my wobbly bits are getting too wobbly to bear now!
I'm just a wee bit excited!

So, I had all of my fill out today - after 11 months, my band all of a sudden got tight tight tight and I couldnt keep anything down, not even water.
My doctor is going to wait a month and then start again.
My question is - will it be like it was when I first got my band, with lots of small fills, slowly working up to the green zone again? Can anyone tell me please - I forgot to ask him. I was too excited by being able to drink water (its the simple things in life!!!)

its been a couple of months now and i believe i have found that spot... the green zone.... its amazing... i was so sick and tired of getting jabbed every two weeks, then every month.... so far i haven't had a fill in about 3 months... I'm still losing weight... even though i am occasionally having an alcoholic drink or having some fattening food... i just find it amazing that i can do so.... sometimes i have been on nearly 4 days of eating rubbish and i still seem to lose weight... i know I'm not eating as much anymore but i still seem to be able to continue to lose the weight... some people say it is my age... some say that its luck... what ever it is I'm happy to be at the spot where i can lose weight, eat healthy have my occasional bad day and still continue to steadily drop the weight....
sorry to all those who have not found that spot.... took them over a year to get there and well now I'm there!
im so excited to nearly have lost 50kgs! at the moment I'm at 47kgs weight loss since banding... so I'm not far from it... I've always wanted to be under 110kgs.... then under 100kgs... to be only 2 digits would be the best feeling ever!